Method and apparatus for winding and cementing tubes or hose



' Aug. 9, 1960 L. WESTERBARKEY 2,948,200

. 4 METHOD AND ,APPARATUS FOR WINDING AND CEMENT-ING TUBES QR H osE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jam-15,1958

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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WINDING AND CEMENTING TUBES 0R HOSE A FiledJan. 13, 1958 'Y v2 Sheets-'Sheet 2 h .i337 l B7' ma m. www

ills AGENT:

States Patenti() AND APPARATUS FOR WINDING AND CEMENTING TUBES OR HOSE YThe present* invention relates to an apparatus for pro- 15ducingexibletubes or hose made of helically wound,

vglued strips of paper,` metal foil, or other suitable material, or acombination of such materials.

In a similar apparatus known prior to this invention rthe tubes wereformed by rotatable coils carrying a 20 and before it could be Withdrawnas a finished product,

it had to be passed through a heating zone to remelt.,`

'the dried adhesive coating to amalgamate theindividual 30 layers. Y Y YVIt is an object of the present invention to Vprovide a tube windingapparatus which no longer requires these preliminary coating and dryingoperations las well as the subsequent remelting oper-ation, and whichthus permits a quicker, more inexpensive, and more veconomical^production of the tubes.

This object of the invention is attained by the com- 'bination of aWinding mechanism which likewise consists of two or more coils whichcarry a supply of paper,

plastic, metal foil, or other suitable material in strip or Y lribbonyform and revolve around a stationary winding mandrel, and an Iadhesiveapplying mechanismrwhich Yrevolves around the'winding mandrel togetherwith the supply coils and applies a Iliquid coating of adhesive upon ythe strips after the same have been withdrawn from the Y revolvingsupply coils and immediately before they are Wound upon the stationarymandrel.

The new method of producing tubes-also has the 'advantage that, becauseof the application of the liquid 50` :adhesive immediately prior to thewinding operation, such -l adhesive may be of a lower, lessV expensivegrade than that required in the above-mentioned prior method in whichthe strips were coated and then dried in a preoperation and again heatedafter being Wound to remelt the dried adhesive.

Another important feature of the present invention for attaining theabove-mentioned objects and advantages consists in the use of at leastone pump which is connected with the revolving adhesive applyingmechanism for supplying the necessary amount of adhesive thereto.

Another feature of the invention consists in mounting the adhesive pumpor pumps so as to revolve with the supply coils around the stationarywinding mandrel.

A further feature of the invention consists in the provision of a seriesof revolving nozzles which are connected to the pump and through whichthe liquid adhesive may be applied upon each strip of paper, plastic,metal foil or other material immediately before the same is woundnponthe stationary mandrel.

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following detailed 'the ydriving motor.

V9 to form a tube orhose.

"2,948,200 Patented nAug;

"ice Y 2 Y description thereof, particularly when read with reference tothe accompanying diagrammatical drawings, in which- Fig. 1 illustrates afront viewof the entire winding machine; Y

Fig. 2 illustrates a cross section taken along line II--lI of Fig. l;while Fig. 3 illustrates a longitudinal cross section through one of thenozzle elements.

Referring to the drawings, the new Winding machine for producing'exibletubes or hose consistsV of a substantially U-shaped machine frame 1which comprises a housing 2 -at one side containing a driving motor andsuitable power-transmittingmeans, not shown, an upright 3 at the otherside which also forms ajhousing containing a grooving mechanism, and anintermediate member 4 forming a base and containing power-transmittingmeans connecting the driving motor within housing 2 with the groovingmechanism in'upright 3.VV A hollow `shaft 5 is rotatably mounted withina bearing 6 within astationary housing element 7 and carries a gear orsprocket wheel 8 which is connected through suitableY power transmittingmeans, such as intermediate gears or a chain to Housing part 7 furthersupports a stationary tubular member 9 which forms a bearing sleeve forsupporting a likewise tubular main drive shaft 10 for-rotation thereon,and the front portion of'which forms a stationary winding mandrel onWhich tWo or more long strips 11 of paper, plastic, metal foil,vor othersuitable flexible material are wound. Within housingv 2 shaft 10 carriesa gear or sprocket wheel 12 which is likewise connected through suitablepowertransmitting means to the `driving motor. The front wall 13 ofhousing 2 which may also carry suitable bearing means, not shown, tosupport shaft 10 carries on its outside -a stationary gear 14. Shaft 10has secured thereon a supporting member 15 which may either consist of aouter ends of rods 16 form shaft portions on which reels 17 and 18,respectively, are rotatably mounted,

each of which carries a roll of paper, plastic, metal foil, or otherflexible material which is unreeled therefrom to form the long strips 11which areV Wound upon mandrel If desired, the angularity of rods 16 mayalso be slightly adjusted by suitable means 19. The main shaft 10further carries a pair of pumps 20 in diametrically opposite positionsto each other. Each of these pumps 20 is driven by a gear 21 meshing`with and revolving around the stationary gear 14 and secured to a shaft22 which is rotatably mounted in a bearing 23 and carries on its otherend a Worm 24 which meshes with a worm gear 25 on the shaft'of each pump20. Gears 21 are preferably made of a synthetic material to reduce thenoise of their operation.

Shaft 10 further carries a container 26 of any suitable shape which isconnected by tubes 27 to pumps 20, each of which, in turn, is connectedby a tube 28 to a nozzle member 29 which is secured by a bracket 30 toshaft 10. Similarly as -angular rods 16 supporting reels 17 and 18,respectively, the angularity of brackets 30 may also be slightlyadjustable by suitable means, not shown. Container 26 has a suitableclosable filling opening, not shown, through which it may be iilled witha suitable liquid adhesive which is then supplied by pumps 20 to nozzlemembers 29. Each of these nozzle members, as illustrated particularly inFig. 3, consists of a tube which is closed at one end and has a row ofconical nozzle openings 31 at one side facing toward the respectivestrip 11. Pumps 20 are driven at a speed in a suitable relation to thespeed of the main shaft 10 and the winding speed of strips 11 so as tocontrol the amount of adhesive applied to the strips.

As already indicated, upright 3 also `forms a housing which encloses agrooving mechanism which, after the above-described winding mechanismhas formed a tube or hose on the stationary mandrel 9, is adapted tomold the wall of the tube into a helically grooved shape which rendersthe tube iiexible. This grooving mechanism consists of a set of outerscrew threads 32 on the end of hollow shaft 5, and a :nut-shaped member33 with corresponding innerscrew threads 34 and a gear or sprocket wheel35 thereon which is driven by the motor in housing 2 through suitablepower transmitting means partly located in the base member 4. Gears orsprocket wheels 8 land 12 on shafts 5 and 10` are driven in the samedirection While gear or sprocket wheel 35 is driven in the oppositedirection so that the corresponding screw threads 32 and 34 also rotatein the opposite directions to each other :and at the same speed. Thus,when the end of the smoothly wound tube 36 is moved into engagement withthe rear end of threads 32 and 34 it will be gripped between these twosets of threads and since these threads are in `a fixed positionrelative to each other, they Will draw upon and convey tube 36continuously forward `and thereby impress continuous helical groovesinto the outer and inner surfaces of tube 36 and mold the entire wall ofthe tube into a spiral accordion-like shape. After passing out ofthreads 32 and 34, tube 36 slides upon a stationary serrated member 37on one end of a shaft 38 which extends through hollow shaft and issecured to a Stationary part 39 of housing 2. By the friction betweenthe inner corrugations 40 of tube 36 and the serrated outer surface ofmember 37, the individual corrugations of the spiral tube are pressedlagainst each other, While the adhesive sets, thus producing a flexibletube of a relatively great wall thickness and high compressive strength.

In the operation of the tube winding machine, strips 11 `are ydrawn offreels 17 and 18, are wound around the stationary mandrel 9 and at firstfed forwardly by hand until they are grasped by threads 32 `and 34 ofthe grooving and feeding mechanism. Thereafter, the entire operationcontinues automatically, reels 17 and 18 revolve around mandrel 9, andstrips 11, during their piassage from the reels to mandrel 9, are coatedwith liquid adhesive which is pumped by pumps 20 from container 26 intothe likewise revolving nozzle members 29 and is then passed throughnozzle openings 31 and sprayed upon one side of strips 11. The speed ofrevolution Vof reels 17 and 18 is in `accord with the feeding speed ofthe wound tube which results from the opposite rotation of threads 32`and 34 along the tube.

Although in the `above `description of one preferred embodiment of myinvention it is said that only two strips are being wound upon mandrel9, `any suitable larger number of supply reels and nozzle members may beprovided on shaft 10. Also, the pump mechanism may be considerablymodified. For example, instead of providing a separate pump for eachnozzle member 29, a single pump of any suitable design may be mounted onshaft 10. Also, instead of mounting the pump or pumps on shaft 10 so asto revolve thereon, a single pump may be provided in a stationaryposition and connected to the revolving nozzles so as to supply the samewith liquid adhesive by any suitable means known as such. The containerfor 'holding a supply of adhesive, instead of being mounted on shaft 10and rotatable therewith, may also be disposed `in a stationary positionand connected in'any suitable mannerknown as such to the lrevolving pumpon shaft' 10.

Although my invention has been illustrated yand described with referenceto the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to have it understood thatitis in no way limited to the ydetails of such embodiments, but iscapable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim 1s:

1. An apparatus for producing a exible tube, which comprises astationary winding mandrel, a 'plurality of reels, each reel adapted tocarry -asupply 'o`f strips 4of flexible material and disposed at anoblique angle to the lmandrel, means yfor storing and feeding a liquidadhesive to said material at a point intermediate at least one 'of saidreels and said mandrel, means for revolving" said reels and saidadhesive storing and feeding means about said stationary mandrel,whereby a helically Wound tube is formed on said mandrel from saidstrips when the strips are applied to the mandrel and drawn offthefreels upon revolution thereof, said revolving means comprising amain shaft coaxial with said stationary 'ni-andrel, means for rotatingsaid shaft, and means for mounting said reels and adhesive storing andfeeding means'on said shaft so as to be rotatable with said shaft, said`adhesive storing and feeding means comprising *a conrainer constitutingsaid liquid adhesive storing means,` the adhesive feeding meanscomprising at least one pump mounted on said main shaft and rotatabletherewith, positive transmission means between the shaftand 'the pumpfor driving said pump upon rotation of the shaft, means for applyingsaid adhesive upon said fiexible material, and means for connecting saidcontainer Witli'fs'aid pump and said pump to said applyingmeans.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said applying meanscomprise a plurality'of spraying nozzles `disposed substantiallyparallel and adjacent to ys'aifdfrrate-V rial at said intermediate pointbetween each of said reels and said stationary mandrel.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,932,942 Thordarson Oct.,3l, v1933 2,623,445 Robinson Dec. 30,119522,688,906 Dokopil .,'..f Sept. 14, 1'954

